Mine ventilation door

ABSTRACT

A mine ventilation door for closing off substantially all of the cross-sectional shape of a mine shaft where the door is positioned, by utilizing a central closure member substantially the width of the shaft and two extension members one movably secured to the top of the closure member and one movably secured to the bottom of the closure member. The door is suspended from a vertical mine support by means of a hinge attached to a vertical edge portion of the door which permits swinging movement of the door to open and close the mine shaft. The hinge is pivotal in a vertical plane about a centrally located bolt with arcuate slots extending above and below the pivot point with studs secured to the door and extending through the arcuate slots to provide support for the door and permit pivotal movement of the door relative to the hinge. A similar set of arcuate slots and pivot point are in the portion of the hinge secured to the vertical support so as to permit further relative movement of the door with respect to the support in order to allow the door to be adjusted so that it will open and close properly.

United States Patent [191 Burton MINE VENTILATION DOOR Willard J.Burton, Box 20, Verdunville, W. Va. 25649 22 Filed: Mar. 20, 1974 21Appl. No.: 453,102

[76] Inventor:

Primary ExaminerKenneth Downey Attorney, Agent, or FirmCushman, Darby &Cushman 1 Sept. 23, 1975 [57] ABSTRACT A mine ventilation door forclosing off substantially all of the cross-sectional shape of a mineshaft where the door is positioned, by utilizing a central closuremember substantially the width of the shaft and two extension membersone movably secured to the top of the closure member and one movablysecured to the bottom of the closure member. The door is suspended froma vertical mine support by means of a hinge attached to a vertical edgeportion of the door which permits swinging movement of the door to openand close the mine shaft. The hinge is pivotal in a vertical plane abouta centrally located bolt with arcuate slots extending above and belowthe pivot point with studs secured to the door and extending through thearcuate slots to provide support for the door and permit pivotalmovement of the door relative to the hinge. A similar set of arcuateslots and pivot point are in the portion of the hinge secured to thevertical support so as to permit further relative movement of the doorwith respect to the support in order to allow the door to be adjusted sothat it will open and close properly.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 0 3,906,67 e 1 of 2 t Sept. 23,1975 She t aUS Paten US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 01 2 3,906 670 -MINEVENTILATION DOOR BACKGROUND OF TI-IE INVENTION I. FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to mine ventilation doors and more particularlyto a type which may be prefabricated and adjusted to conform to avariety of cross-sectional configurations of mine shafts.

2. PRIOR ART In order to properly ventilate a deep mine it is necessaryto construct ventilation doors throughout the mine. The doors areconstructed so that they will prevent air from escaping from those areaswherein air must be maintained at a certain level for health and safetyreasons.

Such doors must be constructed so that they will close automatically andsubstantially seal off that portion of a mine shaft to prevent theescape of air and yet, permit a mine trip motor, or similar vehicle usedfor moving ore or personnel through the mine, to move easily through thedoor. Once the.vehicle has moved through the door, which it forces openby contact with the door, it is imperative that the door closeautomatically behind it in order to reseal the shaft.

Most mine shafts are very irregular in cross-sectional shape and, forexample, may be 6 foot high on one side of the shaft and 7 foot high onthe other side. This presents a problem in providing a door withconfiguration which will substantially seal off theshaft. In the past,it has been the practice, almost universally, to construct such doors onthe site from available lumber and design the door to-the particularconfigurations of the shaft. Since a substantial number of these doorsare necessary in most deep mines, a substantial amountof labor isinvolved in the building and positioning of such doors.

In order to allow ventilation doors to close automatically, it is thenormal practice to position the supports in an inclined manner so thatgravity will close the door once it has been opened. When ventilationdoors are constructed on the site it is the usual practice to firstinitially position the support members in a substantially verticalportion and to construct the door and affix it to a vertical support bymeans of a series of strap hinges. The support is then inclined to thepoint where gravity will automatically close the door. This, however,results in the door hitting the rails, if there are rails on the minefloor, or hitting the floor of the mine shaft itself. The hinges mustthen be repositioned on the support in order to lift the outer edge ofthe door so that it will not strike the ground. Then, as a result of therelocation of the hinges it is usually necessary to readjust theinclination of the support to allow gravity to force the mine door toclose.

This constant readjustment takes substantial amounts of time and laborand usually results in the weakening of the support and the necessity ofproviding secondary supports to hold the primary support in the desiredposition. Eventually, the support is worked loose due to its weakenedcondition and the jolting forces felt by the door as the mine vehiclesstrike itto open it, and as a result, it is necessary to replace thesupports, again adding to the costliness of ventilation doors fabricatedon the site.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes theabovedescribed difficulties and disadvantages associated with of thedoor so as to conform to the height of the mine i prior art devices ofthe type referred to by providing a prefabricated mine door which may beeasily secured to an upright vertical support and adjusted tosubstantially close off the cross-sectional shape of a mine shaft ofirregular configuration.

The mine ventilation door of the present invention comprises a mainclosure member which extends across substantially the entire width of ashaft between vertical support timbers disposed in the shaft for thepurpose of supporting the door. At least one extension member,preferably two extension members, are attached to the main closuremember so as to be movable in the vertical plane to permit expansion ofthe height shaft and the supports. A fairly long vertical hinge isprovided on one edge of the door to permit the door to swing open andclosed. The hinge is mounted in its central portion to the door by meansof a bolt about which it may pivot in the vertical plane of the door.The hinge has a plurality of arcuate slots. The slots are disposed aboveand below this central pivotal point. The door is provided with aplurality of studs secured to the main closure member and extendingthrough the arcuate slots so as to provide support for the door andpermit relative movement of rotation between the door and the hinge. Asimilar pivotal point and plurality of arcuate slots are provided in thehinge portion which is secured to the upright support member so as toprovide further relative movement between the door and the support so asto allow the door to conform to the crosssectional shape of the shaft.In addition, means are provided for securing the door in a desiredposition relative to the hinge and ultimately the support and mineshaft. Likewise, means are provided for securing the extension membersin the desired position with respect to the main closure member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side plan view of apreferred embodiment of the mine ventilation door of the presentinvention secured to a support in a mine shaft.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded pictorial view of the hinge portion of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1,the preferred embodiment of the mine ventilation door of the presentinvention is shown as generally comprising the main closure member 10,extension members 12 and 14, hinge l6 and bumper member 18. The mineventilation door is shown as being supported by vertical support member20 which is a portion of the door frame including a top frame member 22and vertical support member 24.

Main closure member 10, preferably made of wood, has a plurality ofslots 26 extending in the vertical direction and disposed inhorizontally spaced relation along the upper and lower portions of theclosure member. Extension members 12 and 14, also preferably made ofwood, are movably adjustably securable to closure member 10 by means ofa plurality of bolts 28 disposed inslots 26 and attached to extensionmembers 12 and 14. The extension members may thus be moved up and downrelative to closure member and secured in any desired position bytightening bolts 28.

Bumper member 18, also preferably made of wood is intended for providinga protrusion on the side of the mine ventilation door on which the minetrip motor or other vehicle impacts the door to open it so as to takethe brunt of the impact and prevent substantial damage to the mainclosure member 10 due to the direct impact thereon. In addition, itprovides additional strength and support to closure member 10. Bumpermember 18 is secured to closure member 10 by means of a plurality ofbolts 30, extending through bumper member 18 and main closure member 10.

The mine ventilation door is secured to the vertical support 20 by meansof hinge member 16. A first portion 32 of hinge member 16 is secured tothe main closure member 10 by means of a bolt 34 (best shown in FIG. 4)which is inserted through a hole 36, in first hinge portion 32, of largeenough diameter to permit the hinge 16 to rotate relative to closuremember 10. Bolt 34 extends through closure member 10 and screws into asupport plate 38. Support plate 38 provides additional strength to thearea of closure member 10 where the hinge is located to thus providebetter support for the door.

Referring again to the hinge member 16, a plurality of arcuate slots 40are provided above and below hole 36. .A plurality of studs 42 aresecured to support plate 38 and extend through closure member 10 intoarcuate slot 40 so as to provide additional support for the door as aresult of the top of each bolt being in contact with the top of eachrespective arcuate slot. As the main closure member 10 is rotatedrelative to hinge l6, studs 42 move in arcuate slots 40. Once the dooris positioned in the desired location, in the manner described below,screws 44 are inserted in holes 46 so as to secure the hinge relative toclosure member 10.

A second portion'48 of hinge member 16 is attachable to the supportmember 20 when the mine ventilation door is erected at the desiredlocation. It is attached to support 20 in the manner similar toattachment to closure member 10, by means of a central pivotal bolt 50secured directly to support member 20 and a plurality of studs 52disposed in arcuate slots 54. Again, once the mine ventilation door isin the desired position screws 44 are inserted in holes 46 so as toextend directly into support member 20 and secure movement of secondportion 48 of hinge 16 relative to support member 20.

Referring to the manner in which the invention functions, the mineventilation door is taken to the desired location where it is to beinstalled as an assembly, comprising the main closure member 10,extension members 12 and 14, bumper member 18 and hinge 16. Next, thesupport frame comprising vertical support members 20 and 24 and uppersupport member 22 are erected in a substantially vertical plane at thedesired location. The mine ventilation door assembly is then secured tosupport member 20 about the pivotal bolt 50 in the desired location soas to cover a substantial portion of the cross-sectional shape of themine shaft. The extension members 12 and 14 are then adjusted in thevertical direction so as to compensate for irregularities in thecross-sectional shape of the mine shaft and, thus, substantially closeoff the top and bottom portions of the shaft above and below closuremember 10.

In the case of a mine shaft where there are rails 56 disposed on thefloor of the mine shaft, there will be a slight gap between the bottomof bottom extension member 14 and the floor of the mine. In this event,the bottom extension member 14 is positioned so as to come as close tothe rails 56 as is possible.

Next, support members 20, 22 and 24 are disposed at the properinclination to allow gravity to effect closing of the mine ventilationdoor once it is secured. The mine ventilation door is then elevated orrotated about pivotal bolts 34 and 50 so that it is just out of contactwith either the rail 56 or the floor of the shaft if there are no rails.Screws 44 are then inserted in holes 46 in both main closure member 10and support member 20 to secure the mine ventilation door in the desiredposition. I

The door will then function as'desired. When a mine trip motor or othervehicle approaches the door its front portion will contact bumper member18 and cause the mine ventilation door to swing open. Due to theinclination of support member 20, the mine door, after the vehiclepasses through, will automatically close due to the force of gravity.

Thus it can be seen, that the difficulties associated with prior artdevices have been overcome by the present invention since it is nolonger necessary to move support member 20 many times in order to getthe desired effect of gravity to close the door, nor is it necessary toreposition the hinge member or members since they may be pivoted abouttheir central portions to the desired position. In addition, the minedoor of the present invention may be utilized in many locations wherethe cross-sectional shape of the mine shaft varies to a substantialdegree thus permitting the mine ventilation door of the presentinvention to be universally utilized in mines having the normallyencountered crosssectional dimensions.

Although the foregoing description illustrates the preferred embodimentof the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that further variations are possible. For example, the studs 42 and52 which extend through arcuate slots 40 and 54 could be provided withthreaded portions which would permit them to be utilized to secure thehinge member to both support member 20 and closure member 10, ratherthan utilizing additional screws 44, or in addition thereto. All suchvariations as would be obvious to those skilled in this art are intendedto be included with the scope of this invention as defined by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A door for attachment to an upstanding support in a mine shaft so asto provide a movable closure for said shaft and conforming substantiallyto the crosssectional shape of said shaft at the point of attachmentthereof, comprising:

a main rectangular closure member having adequate width to substantiallyspan the width of a mine shaft in which it is to be suspended and havinga height less than the height of said shaft;

hinge means having a first portion attached to a vertical edge portionof said closure member for relative pivotal movement in a plane parallelto said closure member and fixable in a plurality of positions withinsaid pivotal movement so as to permit said closure member to be alignedwith said crosssectional shape of said shaft for opening and closurethereof, a second portion of said hinge means attachable to a verticaledge portion of said support so as to permit a relative pivotal movementof said closure member in a plane parallel thereto and is fixable in adesired position within said pivotal movement for suspendably securingsaid door to said support for swinging movement relative thereto topermit opening and closure of said door; and

at least one extension member slidably attached to a horizontal edgeportion of said closure member for limited relative movement in avertical plane parallel to said closure member so as to increase ordecrease the height of said door, and fixable in a plurality ofpositions relative to said closure member.

2. A door as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and second hingeportions are rotatably secured to said closure member and said support,respectively by means of a bolt positioned in a hole in the centralportion of each of said first and second portions and secured to saidclosure member and said support, said first and second hinge portionsalso having a plurality of arcuate slots disposed above and below saidbolts,

a plurality of studs are disposed one in each of said slots so as toprovide support for said door and permit limited relative movementbetween said closure member and said first portion, and said support andsaid second portion.

3. A door as defined in claim 2 including a plurality of securing boltsdisposed in holes at the upper and lower portions of said first andsecond hinge portions to permit said hinge portions to be secured in adesired position relative to said closure member and said support.

4. A door as defined in claim 1 including a bumper strip secured to thecentral portion of one side of said closure member and extendingsubstantially the entire width thereof.

5. A door as defined in claim 1 wherein two extension members areutilized, one of said extension members is slidably attached to the topportion of said closure member and one is slidably attached to thebottom portion of said closure member.

6. A door as defined in claim 5 wherein said extension members areattached to said closure member by means of a plurality of verticalslots in said closure member disposed at horizontally spaced intervalsalong said top and bottom portions thereof, and a plurality of bolts,one disposed in each of said slots and attached to said extensionmembers so as to permit said extension members to be secured in any oneof said plurality of positions.

1. A door for attachment to an upstanding support in a mine shaft so asto provide a movable closure for said shaft and conforming substantiallyto the cross-sectional shape of said shaft at the point of attachmentthereof, comprising: a main rectangular closure member having adequatewidth to substantially span the width of a mine shaft in which it is tobe suspended and having a height less than the height of said shaft;hinge means having a first portion attached to a vertical edge portionof said closure member for relative pivotal movement in a plane parallelto said closure member and fixable in a plurality of positions withinsaid pivotal movement so as to permit said closure member to be alignedwith said crosssectional shape of said shaft for opening and closurethereof, a second portion of said hinge means attachable to a verticaledge portion of said support so as to permit a relative pivotal movementof said closure member in a plane parallel thereto and is fixable in adesired position within said pivotal movement for suspendably securingsaid door to said support for swinging movement relative thereto topermit opening and closure of said door; and at least one extensionmember slidably attached to a horizontal edge portion of said closuremember for limited relative movement in a vertical plane parallel tosaid closure member so as to increase or decrease the height of saiddoor, and fixable in a plurality of positions relative to said closuremember.
 2. A door as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and secondhinge portions are rotatably secured to said closure member and saidsupport, respectively by means of a bolt positioned in a hole in thecentral portion of each of said first and second portions and secured tosaid closure member and said support, sAid first and second hingeportions also having a plurality of arcuate slots disposed above andbelow said bolts, a plurality of studs are disposed one in each of saidslots so as to provide support for said door and permit limited relativemovement between said closure member and said first portion, and saidsupport and said second portion.
 3. A door as defined in claim 2including a plurality of securing bolts disposed in holes at the upperand lower portions of said first and second hinge portions to permitsaid hinge portions to be secured in a desired position relative to saidclosure member and said support.
 4. A door as defined in claim 1including a bumper strip secured to the central portion of one side ofsaid closure member and extending substantially the entire widththereof.
 5. A door as defined in claim 1 wherein two extension membersare utilized, one of said extension members is slidably attached to thetop portion of said closure member and one is slidably attached to thebottom portion of said closure member.
 6. A door as defined in claim 5wherein said extension members are attached to said closure member bymeans of a plurality of vertical slots in said closure member disposedat horizontally spaced intervals along said top and bottom portionsthereof, and a plurality of bolts, one disposed in each of said slotsand attached to said extension members so as to permit said extensionmembers to be secured in any one of said plurality of positions.